The Royals officially signed fourth overall pick Christian Colon today and assigned the shortstop to their Carolina League affiliate. Colon receives a $2.75MM bonus, but no major league deal, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter). Keith Law reported the deal Wednesday on ESPN.com's draft Twitter feed.
The 21-year-old shortstop becomes the highest of this year's draft picks to reach an agreement so far. MLB.com's scouting report praises the Cal State Fullerton product's "outstanding makeup and leadership ability," along with his ability to play "above his tools."
Rival executives told ESPN.com's Buster Olney that Colon's skills could bring him to the major leagues by next year. After the draft, Colon told reporters that he is confident in his ability to play in the majors before long. The Scott Boras client said he's open to playing second base or short, depending on the Royals' preference.
Playing below your tools is for tandem lugers and B.J. Upton.
Their was atleast 10 players with more upside than colon. Just goes to show why the royals are perennial losers.
Hopefully this will help kick start the rest of the first round guys to start signing and start playing.
Nah, Selig won’t let the way overslot guys be announced until the deadline. Because that proves he’s doing something about those damn kids!
Won’t post any more on that interesting thread above. I’ll just add that one of the reasons he was drafted is that he is viewed to be ‘near-major-league-ready’ and as Bannister pointed out there is a crop of players maturing in the Royals’ minor league system. It makes perfect sense to draft a player for a position you need when you’re going to have three or four pitchers, a 1B, 3B, and a couple of outfielders (Lough in particular) all appearing on the scene at the same time. Now add to that a SS/2B.
It was a good pick.
It’s yet to be proven, but I think that DM is very good at drafting players, evaluating young talent, and picking guys that will be within the Royals organization for a long time. The major league level has been nothing but a stop-gap effort for a few years…but the rest of baseball will get some indication of what to expect, I think starting next year.
It’s yet to be proven, but I think that DM is very good at drafting players, evaluating young talent, and picking guys that will be within the Royals organization for a long time. The major league level has been nothing but a stop-gap effort for a few years…but the rest of baseball will get some indication of what to expect, I think starting next year.
The Twins rebuilding took many years and many good drafts/trades to accumulate young talent, and now they are contenders year in and year out. That process started in 1994, when Terry Ryan was hired as GM. They didn’t have an above .500 year until 2000, I believe. We’ve seen what the young talent is doing in the minors, and Moore is only on year 4. Have patience, Royals fans. Good things are coming!
The Twins rebuilding took many years and many good drafts/trades to accumulate young talent, and now they are contenders year in and year out. That process started in 1994, when Terry Ryan was hired as GM. They didn’t have an above .500 year until 2000, I believe. We’ve seen what the young talent is doing in the minors, and Moore is only on year 4. Have patience, Royals fans. Good things are coming!
Bannister, thank you so much for all of the hard work that you do educating yourself, and us, on the current status of the Royals. And, yes, I am very serious. When a poster that is faithful to another organization attempts to bash on the Royals and what they are doing, you calmly and rationally break down their “logic” and send ’em packing. I love the Royals, but I have neither the time nor the inclination to be as “up” on what is going on within the entire organization as you are. So, thank you. Keep up the good work.
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